Back to Rain Again

I am so glad that I chose to spend as much time as I could outside yesterday as I woke up to rain again this morning. I was toying with the idea of giving the grass another mow and trimming the hedge today if it had stayed fine but the rain came. What a shame I can't do it and now I will just have to do some housework instead. No - wait a minute I will have to knit or crochet instead. I did the housework last week I don't want to get too houseproud do I? I will just settle for a quick runaround with the hoover instead.

I have made another Baby It's Cold Outside. I am working my way through my oddments slowly but surely. This jacket may be a bit small for it's intended little person but as Sylvia fosters I am sure it will come in handy for her next little foster person.Sylvia, I will cure you of your stripe hatred one day. Sorry but I had to stripe it as I was running out of wool. I only had 100 grams of Patons Diana and the jacket needs about 150 grams.

The 4ply baby knitting hit a stop. I found that I was not enjoying the pattern stitch. It was one of those patterns where I felt I was making a lot of effort for something that just didn't show. I knew that it would be destined for the never to be finished WIP basket so I unpicked it and started it in a different easier to remember stitch. The baby's mum doesn't knit and hasn't seen the pattern so she will be none the wiser. I decided long ago only to knit and crochet things that gave me pleasure. If a pattern starts to really annoy me and I know I won't finish it then back it comes and I use the yarn for something else. Life is too short to make things I don't enjoy.

My friend's baby girl still hasn't put in an appearance. Her Daddy texted me and said they had a check up on Friday and she is showing no signs of being ready to be born, despite being overdue, and is fine and healthy. I think the hospital are going to revue the situation today as she is now about 12 days overdue. I won't get too see her for a while as they live in Liverpool now.

I am hopefully going to the Kings Arms Knit Club tonight and must take my needles with me as I have to knit the letter Y for a knitted poem. I got the pattern last week but as my stash didn't have any 100% wool DK in two colours I have not been able to start my letter. Rachael has got some wool for me so I can start tonight. I can't wear wool(except on my feet) so my stash only contains oddments of pure wool in sock thickness.

ETA - I have just had a text from Daddy - Veronica has made her appearance very late last night weighing in at 4.41KG so it's a good job that none of my cardigans are small! Mum, Dad, Baby and Big Sister are all doing well.

Wanders away to covert 4.41KG into pounds!

Baby It's Cold Outside

Don't worry - the weather has not suddenly turned Arctic in Manchester. The blog title is the name of these two baby jackets. Baby It's Cold Outside is a free download by Julie Holetz available through Crochet Me and you can find it by clicking on my blog title or through Ravelry.

The blue jacket was made from a part ball of James C Bretts Marble Chunky and the pink one from some wool that Sylvia gave to me for the crochet bed cape I made from the Naked Calendar fund raffle. I think it is either a very thick double knit or a fine aran. The jackets are made all in one piece as you can see from the bottom photo so there is little stitching up (just the way I like it!)

I went to the hospital yesterday and I made the pink jacket in the waiting room whilst I waited. First they altered the waiting time to 1hr then 1 hr 10 followed by 1hr 30 and finally 2 hrs. I actually waited 2hrs 40 mins in the waiting room and a further 10 mins in the cubicle. There was no water fountain or any newspapers so I felt like the entertainment there as I knew a lot of people were watching me. One old lady said you will have that finished before you get to see the specialist. I said "Have it finished, I should have brought another ball"

When I finally saw the specialist I didn't say at first that I had been seeing the osteopath I thought I would let him have his say first. It was a different guy again (I never see the same person twice) and he looked at my knee scan results and said there is nothing more that we can do for the knee as it is now. It is so badly degraded with arthritis that the only option is a new knee. Well considering what I have been through since March I am not in a rush to do anything hasty. I then told him that I was seeing an osteopath who was working wonders and told him exactly what I thought of the hospital physio dept. He has given me an appointment for 6 months so that I can make up my mind what I want to happen next. I have always thought of a new knee as the last resort and if I can manage a while longer without having the operation then I will. I am very hopeful that with a few more osteopath sessions my knee will be much better. He has got me walking (albeit still in some pain) and the knee feels better with each day that passes.

I have not made any progress on the 4ply baby cardigan and I don't take knitting to the waiting rooms as they are always crowded and I need more elbow space to knit than I do to crochet.

I am off to do some food shopping now and for once I am not dreading the walk to Tesco. I still have to take my 4 wheeler trolley, of course, as my back will never be up to carrying a week's shopping.

A Little Sun Today

I sat out in the garden for a little while today as Shhhh we had a bit of sunshine. Unfortunately it didn't last long but at least it didn't rain. it is probably saving the rain for tomorrow when I am going to the hospital. I have a check up for my knee with my specialist. I will be bending his ear over the uselessness of the physio department they have there. They wouldn't last two minutes if they had to earn their own living in the private sector. No-one would pay for the kind of treatment and diagnosis that they hand out there. I can't imagine anyone would pay for treatment and be happy with a ten minute question and answer session and then being given a piece of paper with exercises on (with some crossed out as they don't apply to a knee injury)

I started the 4ply baby cardigan but as the sun was shining my needles soon became sticky and squeaky so I had to give up after 8 rows. I like knitting with finer wool when it is something small but I will have to knit it in and between my crochet as my arthritic wrists really don't like the knitting action these days. They get very sore after a few rows. This baby isn't due for another 6 weeks so I have plenty of time.

I managed to do some crochet as my hands don't get sticky when I use a hook. I am still working on an All Shawl in black which will have a coloured edging. I may have more to show tomorrow.

I just hope that I don't have a two and a half hour wait to see the specialist like I did last time. I must remember to take some knit or crochet with me just in case.

My Trip to the Yarn Barn

I have just returned from a very enjoyable couple of hours in the Yarn Barn in Shaw. I had been there a couple of times before but not since they moved into larger premises a couple of doors away from where they used to be.

The shop window entices you in with plentiful display garments showing what you can aspire to make. They are beautifully made as they are sample garments from Sirdar made by their team of VERY experienced even tensioned knitters. Oh to do stocking stitch like that. Mine is always uneven no matter how I try and the older I have got and the more arthritis the worse it has become.

Once inside there are two leather squashy sofas where you can browse the patterns or the copious books spread on coffee table. Wonderfully tempting intricate designs in expensively priced books. When I say expensive I mean they are for pensioner me whose head is still stuck on 1990's prices.

The photos that I took show only a mere fraction of the stock that they have on view. Pattern books full of leaflets for anything that you care to make. It has been a long time since I have seen so many leaflets for sale - it quite reminds me of my wool shop days and why I have always been so disappointed with most shops pattern choices.

I made a mistake yesterday when I said that Judith did online ordering. She will post things out but you would have to contact her by phone or e mail to see if she had in stock what you wanted. I am hoping that she sorts out that side of her business soon as it would be so easy to go online and order as not having a car anymore it's quite a treck for me to get there without a lift.

I can only list some of the things that she sells. The photos only tell one half of the story. There are no photos of the aran and chunky section, the needles and buttons etc, Plus I forgot to take a photo of the window display.

What I did notice was lots of Sirdar including Wash n wear, Snuggly Baby in 4ply and DK, Country Style, Tiny Tots, Baby Bamboo,Snowflake in chunky and double knit for babies, Bubbly, Pearl, Splash, Kisses and even some Funky Fur. I did see Crofter in DK and I think Chunky.They also stock Peter Pan Baby DK and 4ply.

In Rowan there are lovely colours in Felted Tweed, Soft Pure Merino 4ply, Kid Silk Haze and 100% cotton. There were two Noro yarns one was Silk Garden but I didn't see any Noro sock yarn but I could be wrong.

There was Jaeger wool including Extra Fine merino/silk cashmere 4ply and some Debbie Bliss Cashmere.

The sock wool that you can see in the first photo was mostly Regia 4ply with some Sirdar Town and Country and a bit of Wendy Happy Bamboo 4ply.

My purchases were very meagre. I could have spent an absolute fortune in there but as I had to pre pay my Bank Holiday weekend trip plus pay for 3 trips to the Osteopath this month my spending capacity for wool was severely curtailed.

If you are ever in the Shaw area I think the Yarn Barn is well worth a trip. Parking is a bit tricky but there are a few spaces around the back in the side streets. Do check on the web site first though as she is opening summer hours at the moment and has one early closing day.

Third Visit to the Osteopath

I managed to finish off the baby matinee and hat.(Still no word about her arrival - she is taking her time) I have been doing so many more things besides crocheting these last few days. That alone is a sign that my knee is getting better day by day. It's still not fully functional but after my third visit to the osteopath today I feel very optimistic that with time my knee will improve. That is something that I could not have said even 2 weeks ago.

The matinee jacket is very pretty but I don't think that I will make the small size again. I fear that the pattern is so open it could be a trap for little unwary fingers. The pattern actually goes up to a 7yr old although I can't honestly see a child that old wearing a matinee style jacket but in a darker colour it could look very different. The pattern is a Sirdar one and current in their range. I bought mine online from Purplelinda but I am sure that any Sirdar stockist would have one or could get one. I am not keen on the wool that I used. Very pretty but the silky thread running along with the yarn snagged up on my hook and I was constantly splitting the wool. I thought it was because I was crocheting it but 2 people who have knitted it have had the same problem. I usually like James C Bretts wool and find it washes well so it is just the Shimmer DK that I will avoid in future. I have used Sirdar baby DK that has a silky thread running through it and not had the splitting problem.

Talking about Sirdar I am fortunate enough to be going to the Yarn Barn in Shaw tomorrow. My niece has offered me a lift there. I haven't been to the shop for quite a while and I believe that she has moved premises to a larger shop a few doors away. The owner Judith is a stockist of Sirdar and has a great selection of their wools and patterns. I am a great fan of Sirdar Wash n Wear DK and 4ply and Sirdar Snuggly is so lovely and soft for babies. I used to be one of Sirdar's largest stockists in my wool shop days and I think that the yarn speaks for itself that those particular yarns are still around and best sellers some 15 yrs later. If I remember to take my camera I will let you see more but Yarn Barn does have an online shop now for those of you who live too far away from Shaw to visit. Click on my blog title for a link there.

I am hoping to get some crochet done tonight but I have friends visiting me so I think that there will be more chatting than crocheting done.

Not Much Crocheting Done Lately

Not much crocheting has been done over the last couple of days. I am still in the cleaning and tidying up mode. So much of the house has been ignored or glossed over for the last 12 months since I had my spinal operation and subsequent knee operation even now it is not being cleaned to my satisfaction. It will not be up to my pre op standards. I am still limited with what I can do as my knee, although thanks to the physio/osteo and the ice packs is slowly improving, I still can't clean as well as I would like. It's difficult to get to places when my knee won't bend properly and I cannot kneel. Still at least I have started and albeit very slow progress the house is getting cleaner by the day.

Yesterday I had time off from cleaning and mowed the lawn instead. The lawn had grown like a meadow with all the rain we have had lately and it took me quite some time as my poor old lawnmower kept cutting a bit and then stopping for a while. The grass was still wet underneath and I had to wait for it to dry out layer by layer. Eventually I got it done although I must confess that my knee didn't like it one bit. Still it has to be done. The hedge could do with a trim but I decided not to try to do too much in one day.

My two nieces came to visit me yesterday. My younger niece lives in London so I don't get to see her often. The had been visiting Garstang where my Mum and Dad used to have a caravan. They said it was beautiful there and hadn't changed much at all.

Today is my son and daughter in law's wedding anniversary. I hope that they have a good day. No doubt they celebrated at the weekend. I have sent them a congratulation phone text but didn't ring as they will probably be at work.

I have finished crocheting the baby cardigan but as you can see if needs stitching together and buttons added. I have started the hat. I have not enjoyed doing this pattern with this wool. The wool has a silky thread which keeps snagging up as I make the bobbles. I think the yarn is more suited to being knitted and not crocheted. The black crochet is the start of another Doris Chan All Shawl.

I have been icing my knee whilst writing this blog and my 15 minutes is up so it's back to the cleaning. I will take a break and shower soon as my niece is taking me to the Knit Club tonight.

Tidying Yarn Stash

As my knee is feeling quite a bit better I decided that I should give myself a prod and do some housework that has been skimmed over a lot lately. After cleaning the bedrooms and bathroom I decided that I really should venture into the box/junk room. I keep all things yarny in there and it had disintegrated into a plastic bag nightmare pile of oddments. I decide that in order to use the odd balls up then I needed to at least put them into some sort of order.

It is so easy to keep the newer larger amounts tidy. I use a small bookcase for that but the oddments look untidy no matter how you sort them. I have been using storage boxes with lids and bags but as every bag contained multiple colours it was hard to sort colours out when I wanted to make something. Now I have a bag with all shades of purple, one with white based, creams and lemons, shades of blue, shades of green and blacks. I have gone with colours rather than thickness.

I can see a lot of multi coloured All Shawls, Granny squares and striped baby blankets in my future. Now they are more organised it makes me more determined to make things with them. The box room still looks messy but at least now I have a better idea of what colours and amounts that I have now.

The pink baby coat is being made with some wool that I bought from Abakhan. It is Baby Shimmer DK by James C Brett and has a silky thread running through it. The pattern is one that I got from Purplelinda the other week and is Sirdar 1798. The puff stitch fairly eats the yarn and I have almost used 100 grams and have yet to finish the body before making the sleeves.

Break over so it is time to finish off hoovering the stairs. I think that I will leave the downstairs cleaning until tomorrow.